S.D.-departing cruise ship diverted to miss hurricane

A five-day Carnival cruise ship that departed from San Diego Saturday has been rerouted to avoid the path of Hurricane Jimena, cruise line officials said yesterday.

The Carnival Elation, which had been headed to Cabo San Lucas, will now dock in Catalina and Ensenada, said Laurie Mahle, a spokeswoman for the cruise line.

The ship, which has about 2,600 people aboard, was scheduled to arrive in Cabo San Lucas on Monday for a two-day stay. The ship was to be at sea today and return to San Diego tomorrow. Passengers instead were taken to Catalina yesterday and will spend today in Ensenada before returning to San Diego as scheduled tomorrow.

Carnival Splendor, a seven-day cruise from Long Beach, and Carnival Paradise, a four-day cruise also departing from Long Beach, also have been rerouted to avoid the path of the hurricane.

Angelica Martinez

O.C. Register owner files for bankruptcy protection

The company that owns
The Orange County Register
and dozens of other newspapers yesterday filed for bankruptcy protection, prompted by heavy debt and a decline in advertising revenue.

The filing by Freedom Communications Holdings was part of a prepackaged plan approved by a majority of the company's lenders.

Freedom chief executive Burl Osborne said that under the proposed restructuring, the family and two investment firms that own Freedom would be left with no more than a 2 percent stake in the company. The rest of the stock would go to a group of 27 lenders owed nearly $771 million. The lenders, led by JPMorgan Chase, would forgive most of that debt in return for control of the company.

Feds ready to sell homes owned by felon Madoff

This week, Madoff's eastern Long Island beach house will go on the market. Up next will be his Manhattan apartment and Palm Beach, Fla., estate.

Madoff estimated the value of his Long Island home on an exclusive seaside lot in Montauk at $3 million. The U.S. Marshals Service, which seized the home in July, believes it could bring $8 million or more.

The home features a large, columned porch with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean. Several items left behind, from American Indian art to golf clubs, will be sold at auction.

Southwest gets more time to replace targeted parts

The Federal Aviation Administration said the parts do not prevent safe operation of the planes. The jets' manufacturer, Boeing, had reached the same conclusion.

The FAA will let Southwest fly the planes as long as they are inspected every seven days and the unapproved parts on the wings are replaced by Dec. 24.

The planes make up about 10 percent of Southwest's fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft.

Associated Press

Etc.

American Airlines
is cutting 921 flight attendant jobs as it deals with an ongoing downturn in traffic and lower revenue. The airline said the cuts will reduce its flight-attendant ranks by about 6 percent.

The jobless rate
in the 16 nations that use the euro climbed to a new 10-year high of 9.5 percent in July despite other signs that the economy is starting to recover, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said.

General Motors
said the rollout of its 2010 Buick LaCrosse is being delayed for a few weeks due to quality concerns.